The invention is based on a pressure sensor for an internal combustion engine having an intake tube. A known pressure sensor (German Offenlegungsschrift 43 17 312) has a plastic housing with a stublike pressure connection, and in the state in which it has been installed on the intake tube it is essentially flush with an inner wall of the engine intake tube, or protrudes from it by only a few millimeters. In such pressure sensors mounted directly on the intake tube, however, there is the risk of icing up of the pressure connection, so that in the worst case, failure of the pressure sensor can occur. The risk of icing is especially high in engines with exhaust gas recirculation and crankcase venting into the intake tube, since the flowing medium has a high proportion of water dissolved in gaseous form, which at low temperature can precipitate out in the form of ice, predominantly in the interior of a thin metal sensor tubule of a pressure measuring instrument of the pressure sensor.
The pressure sensor of the invention has the advantage over the prior art that icing up of the pressure sensor is precluded with very great certainty. Advantageously, the deposit of liquid components of the medium flowing within the intake tube on the pressure sensor is also prevented, thus further reducing the danger of icing of the pressure sensor.
By means of the provisions recited herein, advantageous further features of and improvements to the pressure sensor are possible. It is especially advantageous that existing pressure sensors can be retrofitted in a simple way without having to make major structural changes, so that the production costs rise only slightly. Moreover, the pressure sensor of the invention advantageously requires no additional space at the installation site of the pressure sensor.
The invention will be better understood and further objects and advantages thereof will become more apparent from the ensuing detailed description of a preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the drawings.